El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475, down from 115,965 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, El Monte was the 51st largest city in California.[8]

Origin of name

El Monte is situated between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Rivers; residents claimed that anything could be grown in the area. Between 1770 and 1830, Spanish soldiers and missionaries often stopped here for respite. They called the area 'El Monte,' which in Spanish means 'the mountain' or 'the mount'.[9] Most people assume the name refers to a mountain, but there were no mountains in the valley. The word is an archaic Spanish translation of that era: meaning "the wood". The first explorers had found this rich, low-altitude land, blanketed with thick growths of wispy willows, alders, and cattails, located between the two rivers. They also found wild grapevines and watercress. El Monte is approximately 7 miles long and 4 miles wide.[10] When the State Legislature organized California into more manageable designated townships in the 1850s, they called it the El Monte Township. In a short time the name returned to the original El Monte.[11]

From 1847, The Santa Fe Trail was also connected westward through the Southern Emigrant Trail, passing by the El Monte area, to the Pueblo of Los Angeles. Immigrant settlement began in 1849, El Monte was a stopping place for the American immigrants going to the gold fields during the California Gold Rush. The first permanent residents arrived in El Monte around 1849-1850 mostly from Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, during a time when thousands migrated to California in search of gold. The first settlers with families were Nicholas Schmidt, Ira W. Thompson, G. and F. Cuddeback, J. Corbin, and J. Sheldon.

These migrants ventured upon the bounty of fruitful, rich land along the San Gabriel River and began to build homesteads there. The farmers were very pleased at the increasing success of El Monte's agricultural community, and it steadily grew over the years.[12]

In the 1850s the settlement was briefly named Lexington by American settlers, but soon returned to being called El Monte or Monte. It was at the crossroad of routes between Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and the natural harbor at San Pedro. In the early days, it had a reputation as a rough town where men often settled disputes with knives and guns in its gambling saloons. Defense against Indian raids and the crimes of bandit gangs, such as that of Juan Flores and Pancho Daniel, led to the formation of a local militia company called the Monte Rangers in February 1854.[13] After the Monte Rangers disbanded, justice for Los Angeles County, in the form of a lynching, was often provided by the local vigilantes called the "El Monte Boys".

By 1861 El Monte had become a sizeable settlement, and during the American Civil War was considered a Confederate stronghold sympathetic to the secession of Southern California from California to support the Confederate States of America.[14]A. J. King an Undersheriff of Los Angeles County (and former member of the earlier "Monte Rangers" or "Monte Boys") with other influential men in El Monte, formed a secessionist militia company, like the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, called the Monte Mounted Rifles on March 23, 1861. However the attempt failed when following the battle of Fort Sumter, A. J. King marched through the streets with a portrait of the Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard and was arrested by a U.S. Marshal. State arms sent from Governor John G. Downey for the unit were held up by Union officers at the port of San Pedro. Union troops established New Camp Carleton near the town in March 1862 to suppress any rebellion, it was shut down three years later at the end of the war.[15]

20th century

El Monte was incorporated as a municipality in 1912. During the 1930s, the city became a vital site for the New Deal's federal Subsistence Homestead project, a Resettlement Administration program that helped grant single-family ranch houses to qualifying applicants. It became home to many 1930s white immigrants from the Dust Bowl Migration. Famous photographer Dorothea Lange took many pictures of the houses for her work for the Farm Security Administration. The area also experienced social and labor conflict during this period, as the El Monte Berry Strike of 1933 shed light upon institutional racism experienced by Japanese tenant farmers and Latino farm laborers.

The city has evolved into a majority Hispanic community.[18] Representing the historical significance of the Santa Fe Trail, El Monte built the Santa Fe Trail Historical Park in 1989, at Valley Blvd and Santa Anita Ave.[12] The trail remained America's greatest route for several decades thereafter.[19] The El Monte Historical Museum [20] at 3150 Tyler Avenue is considered to be one of the best community museums in the state of California.[10]

21st century

By 2008 there had been an influx of Asians into El Monte. Bang Tran, a resident of Monrovia and a former El Monte resident quoted in the Los Angeles Times, stated that year that there was overpopulation in Alhambra, Monterey Park, and other nearby heavily Asian municipalities; this is why Asians began moving to El Monte.[21]

Entertainment history

El Monte is credited with being the birthplace of TV variety shows. Hometown Jamboree, a KTLA-TV Los Angeles-based show, was actually produced at the American Legion Stadium in El Monte, California in the 1950s.[22] The Saturday night stage show was hosted and produced by Cliffie Stone, who helped popularize country music in California.[23]

In the 1950s, as the unstable racial climate and the hostility toward rock & roll started to merge; rock & roll shows were forced from the City of Los Angeles by police pressure. The El Monte Legion Stadium, outside the city limits, became the site of a series for rock and roll concerts by Johnny Otis and other performers.[24] (Johnny Otis along with Alan Freed and Dick Clark were the major powers in the growing rock and roll industry.) During the fifties, teenagers from all over Southern California flocked to El Monte Legion Stadium every Friday and Saturday night to see their favorite performers. Famous singers who performed there include: Ritchie Valens, Rosie & the Originals, Brenton Wood, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Grateful Dead,[25]Dick Dale and his Del-Tones and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Disc jockeys Art Laboe and Huggy Boy enhanced the stadium's popularity with their highly publicized Friday Night Dances with many popular record artists of the late 1950s and 1960s. "El Monte Legion Stadium", as it was often called, was the "Happening" place to be for the teenagers of that era.[26] In a closed-circuit telecast, The Beatles and the Beach Boys were seen there on March 14, 1964.[27]

A popular attraction from 1925 to 1942 was Gay's Lion Farm. Two European retired circus stars, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gay, operated this tourist attraction, which has been called "the Disneyland of the 1920s and 1930s" by historian Jack Barton,[10] and many others of that era. The Gays raised wild animals for use in the motion picture industry and housed over 200 African lions. Many of the lions starred in films during the 1920s and 1930s, including the Tarzan films starring Elmo Lincoln and Johnny Weissmuller. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion logo was made with two lions from the farm, "Slats" (1924–1927), and his lookalike successor "Jackie" (1928-1956). In 1925, El Monte Union High School adopted "The Lions" name for its teams, and the Gays provided a lion mascot for big games. The famous live lion farm was closed temporarily due to wartime meat shortages. It never reopened, but a life-sized memorial statue can be seen next to I-10 on the SE corner of Valley Boulevard and Peck Road. The original lion statue, commissioned for the Farm, stands in front of nearby El Monte High School.

Horse racing's most famous jockey, Willie Shoemaker, was a resident and attended El Monte High School, until he dropped out to work in the nearby stables.[30] El Monte was also briefly the home to author James Ellroy until his mother Geneva was murdered there in 1958.[31] Former baseball player Fred Lynn was a resident of El Monte. Actor-filmmaker Timothy Carey filmed much of his underground feature The World's Greatest Sinner (1962) in El Monte. Modern authors Salvador Plascencia, 33, and Michael Jaime-Becerra, 36, both grew up in El Monte and each references El Monte in his novels.[32] Mr. Ed, the Palomino of the classic 60s television show, was foaled in 1949 in El Monte and named "Bamboo Harvester".[33] Artist collective "mindfunk" work live art studio is based in El Monte. Since 2000 "mindfunk" has been producing underground urban multimedia artwork.[34]

The Census reported that 112,395 people (99.0% of the population) lived in households, 317 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 763 (0.7%) were institutionalized.

There were 27,814 households, out of which 14,557 (52.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 15,087 (54.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 5,298 (19.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,962 (10.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,061 (7.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 161 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,130 households (11.3%) were made up of individuals and 1,539 (5.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.04. There were 23,347 families (83.9% of all households); the average family size was 4.23.

The population was spread out with 32,234 people (28.4%) under the age of 18, 12,814 people (11.3%) aged 18 to 24, 33,263 people (29.3%) aged 25 to 44, 24,567 people (21.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,597 people (9.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.6 years. For every 100 females there were 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.4 males.

There were 29,069 housing units at an average density of 3,013.0 per square mile (1,163.3/km²), of which 11,740 (42.2%) were owner-occupied, and 16,074 (57.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.6%. 46,802 people (41.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 65,593 people (57.8%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, El Monte had a median household income of $39,535, with 24.3% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[6]

There were 27,034 households out of which 53.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 18.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.9% were non-families. 10.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.24 and the average family size was 4.43.

In the city, the population were 34.1% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 15.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 102.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,439, and the median income for a family was $32,402. Males had a median income of $21,789 versus $19,818 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,316. About 22.5% of families and 26.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Municipal government

The El Monte City Council has five members. As of 2014, the City Council is composed of Andre Quintero (Mayor), Victoria Martinez (Mayor Pro-Tem), Juventino Gomez, Norma Macias, and Jerry Velasco.[40]

The El Monte City School District contains 17 elementary schools:[50] one serving grades K-4, one serving grades K-5, ten serving grades K-6, and six serving grades K-8. The district also administers four Head Start (preschool) sites, which are located at the elementary schools.

The Mountain View School District[59] is a K-8 school district comprising ten elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, an alternative education program for students in grades 5-8, and a Children's Center and Head Start/ State Preschool program. The district has an enrollment of 8,600 students.

Health services

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Monrovia Health Center in Monrovia, serving El Monte.[60] The El Monte Comprehensive Health and Mammography Center is located on Ramona Blvd. in El Monte. It offers medical and dental services for low-income individuals, but is not an emergency center.[61]

Media

El Monte community news are provided by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune published daily, Mid-Valley News and El Monte Examiner are published weekly.